(Curator Pov)

Sky-eclipsing canopies of frozen interwoven flames resonated with the maddening symphony of conflict, carrying the cursed ramblings each combatant’s death cry conveyed far and wide. Soaking these echos deep into their crystalline bark, forever reverberating between earth and sky.

In all her travels, Ellie should have learned to avoid such noises. But her witchly nature would never allow a mystery lie.

Body, mind, soul, and heart. They were all made of the same stock and wandered to her desire. Crystal trees, while interesting, would stay. This disturbance would not.

Absconding, under her companion’s protest, the pink witch disappeared into the softly burning darkness. Leaving the others baffled as they chased after her fleeting form.

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Sprinting through the forest breaking branches and trampling vegetation, she soon arrived at the source. A mine supplanted for a fortress. Fortified with thick trunks bolted together by metal plates. Dusted, dented, and decrepit. Assailed on all sides by yelling and explosions, the first siege for the Crucible raged on.

Fredrica fought on the eastern front, where the siege was fiercest. Flanked by a hillside, while not eclipsing it entirely, did dramatically hinder the blockade’s effectiveness, granting the insurgents an unabated venue of attack. That, among a plethora of other minute details, whittled any advantages the knights may have had.

Despite all that, they did an admirable job defending me- us. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily call Fredrica or the other knights friends in this scenario.

“What are you doing, staring out into space? We have to prevent these maniacs from blowing us to kingdom come!” Ah, yeah. The moment these guys rolled up, Antonia immediately jumped to plan Z. Not that I blame her, she’s already getting enough of that from the researchers. The chances of them winning were slim. No doubt they’ll hold for some time, but defeat was inevitable.

“On it!” Manipulating a pack of salamanders, I cut them off at a fork. Flanking them on three fronts, crawling out from narrow cracks lining the walls virtually invisible in the fire crystal's refraction.

The enemy of our enemy is our friend. And that sadly means Fredrica, Antonia, and the rest were our enemies this time round.

The icy blond general planned for the researchers to ‘prime’ the dungeon to explode once fed a certain magical signature. Destroying what could offer a scientific leap for the Dutchy. Their chances of holding the mine were slim, and under no circumstances could I be allowed to fall into enemy hands. Though, judging by Fredrica's spirited defense, the pig-tailed knight still believed they could pull it off.

“Defensive formation! Keep the civilians safe!” Shields went up. Under the blonde general’s swift leadership, the group settled into formation, keeping the researchers safely between them. Moving outwards, both vanguard and rear-guard met the oncoming creatures, creating space to facilitate any push or pull their respective side may meet.

Claws, flame, and steel. Brilliant cold flashes flew with each clash, almost blinding as they bounced off the fire crystal walls. In time, Antonia’s forces pushed their assailants back, but we expected nothing less from the errant knights. As all three sides pushed further outwards, Head enacted our strategy.

Focused on the enemy, the knights failed to notice the walls rapidly losing color, turning an incandescent pearl white. Neither changing in intensity or light until. *Pop* All at once, expelling something akin to a flashbang, leaving the group disoriented and stumbling.

Panic was quick to claim the researchers, only exacerbated by the continued squall of combat encircling them. Antonia’s knights fared better, being thoroughly drilled to keep calm in the face of adversity, kept sturdy, and covered each other, coordinating without sight.

Although expected still irked Head a tinge. I’m not exactly sure how the mad scientist managed. But with some finagling and enough swearing to fill a bar, he altered the wall’s attributes. Despite the ‘illogical bullshit’ as he put it.

More of a stop-gap, Head had to manually control the walls to absorb light and heat, then expel it all at once. One slip-up would lead to premature detonation.

The process was similar to how people cast magic, even down to the catalyst being crystals. Huh, even with all that, it barely drained our DP reserves. Or maybe it’s due to all the hard work he put in?

Dp acts as a currency for us to bend, if not break, the world’s laws. So by that logic, Head was trying his damnedest to stay within those confines. But why?

These were fire crystals. We should be utilizing them the same as anyone else. Releasing the energy stored within, using our mind to dictate its function. Whether that be a giant fireball, a stream of rushing flames, or in Head’s case, a flashbang. Perhaps a difference in thinking?

It would account for the discrepancy. Us dungeon cores and humans are reaching the same conclusion. We’re simply taking different routes to get there, with the world favoring the latter’s way.

Argh! Wait! Focus! I still need to add the finishing touches.

With their sight steadily recovering, many researchers found matted red balls of fluff pressed against their legs. “What the?” One brave man flipped a puff ball over with his foot revealing four tiny squishy paws and two beady eyes staring back . “Oh, sh-!” Orange cracks rapidly tore through the beast as it started expanding. Before.*Boom*

“-ver!” Antonia’s commanding voice cut through the monotonous din left by the explosion. Leaving everyone, human and dungeon core alike at a loss for words.

The once brilliant crystal tunnel was plunged into utter darkness, now only illuminated by sparsely scattered torches lining the walls. But contrary to that damage, the people were anything but charred. The sole exception being Antonia, who dropped to her knees. One step away from being cooked alive with steam billowing out from the gaps in her armor.

“Captain!” Grabbing a torch off the wall, one of her subordinates rushed to the general’s side before any of my monsters could deal the finishing blow. Cut down one by one, even with hysterical civilians clawing at their backs, the group managed to squeeze out enough breathing space between them and the monsters.

Still hounded by Head and me, their leader’s actions lit a fire in the group. And like it or not. We had a bunch of monsters we could throw at them, but none were particularly combat-orientated. Weaker than a paper wolf and miles behind chem-lementals. Apples to oranges on the second comparison, but still.

Eventually, the group steamrolled their way past our onslaught of creatures. Finding respite in an open cavern with narrow entrances. First thing they did was shove what looked like an expensive potion down Antonia’s gullet.

Next on the agenda was something I thought I’d never see. Antonia, getting dressed down by her posse. She always held herself with the presence of a stern general, rigid and by the books. Usually observed reprimanding other people.

“Tony~” Her second in command and the one who rushed to her side started. “I thought we agreed that you would never use that skill again unless we all agreed upon it. Including Freddie~” For the first time ever, the steel general shrunk under pressure.

“It was necessary! Civilians would have died.” Not necessarily shouting, Antonia defended in her own heated way. Keeping it cool and in command but with enough cadence to mean business.

“Necessary? Look at you! Even with the highest-grade potion we could get our hands on! You’re still a mess.” The blond general’s second in command fired back. Briefly beating her commander into silence loud enough to drown out the fighting in the background.

As her friend thought she’d gone too far. Overstepped her bounds, not as a friend but as a subordinate, Antonia spoke. “The blast wasn’t enough to kill a single person. Perhaps if they fell badly afterward, but alone it wasn’t enough to end a life.”

Damn. Found out. We had our reasons. Head found it tasteless to slaughter scholars. And I wholly supported incapacitating them. Well, that and our supply of exploding mice only went so far.

“Tch, great. So not only are we racing against the clock. The dungeon all of a sudden has an ego!” Antonia’s friend pinched the bridge of her nose. Turning to the eggheads, all they gave was a shrug. Explaining it along the lines of. ‘This dungeon does have a core, but for some reason, it’s unreachable. Replaced with a removable auxiliary core, which defies everything we know. Sadly we may never find the answer.’

They were understandably miffed about the whole situation.

“Even so, Toni. Using cover on more than five people was incredibly reckless. Geez, out of all the people to receive that skill, it had to be you...-” Huh, it’s been a while since I last saw an activated skill. If I had to guess, this one is a support skill that transferred all damage received by the user’s allies to themselves.

Within that pause, an explosion rocked the mines, sending a premonition of death into everyone’s mind. ‘Did the rebels break through?’

“Curator, this development will harden their resolve. They will redouble their efforts free of doubt, seeing it as their only option.” Head emotionlessly interjected in full focus mode, not even deigning to throw an insult my way.

Since the initial attack, Head and I had fallen into a busy trance, trying to keep everything afloat. Treating each other as fellow journeymen in the art of dungeon craft. Only giving out short practical answers, nothing more.

Surmounting our irritation with each other, we wanted to see this through. I, for the sake of seeing this story to its end. While Head was deadset on wanting this asinine rebellion to fail. For the sake of his World Fair, of course.

“Gotcha.” Head can hold down the fort as long as I keep the fantastical side running, which only requires a small unconscious part of my mind.

Phasing through the ceiling, turning my attention onto the surface. Lo and behold, it was the pink witch.

A hole blown through the rebel forces, stopping right at the wall, leaving charred bodies in her wake. Well... Show the dungeon cores how it’s done, why don’t you?

Even with a considerable number of them vaporized, regardless of their own well-being, the enemy didn’t freeze in their tracks, rushing the poor girl. She already had another potion in hand, which only god knows what horrors it may bring as she halted mid-throw.

Just as the rebels charged into range, a familiar wagon came barrelling out of the woods. Ah. This complicates things quite a bit. “Ellie, grab my hand!” Doing just that, Zhenya pulled the girl into the wagon as it plowed through enemy lines.

Even then. Armored up, Rudi erred on the side of caution, keeping to the mob’s outskirts. The arrows aimed his way did not help matters. Circling the rebels, Zhenya and friends started chucking random potions and crates out the back. The instant I heard glass shattering within their wooden prisons, all hell broke loose.

And say you me. Even a goddamn elder god would be awed by the sheer madness induced upon reality wrought by Junia’s handiwork.

Like Wonderland rose from the ground and consciously decided to be weird. Certainly wreaked havoc on the rebels, that’s for sure. Though I doubt this place will ever be the same again.

I state dryly. Watching as a crystal tree uprooted and crab walked the hell out of dodge. Welp, that’s a problem for the A.A.

Whipping up mayhem any trickster god would concede to, our motley crew raced towards the barricade. Where a voice called for its gates to open.

Racing for the finish line, they shook off any lingering pursuers and passed through the gates. As it shut behind them, Zhenya jumped out the back, turned the corner, and came face to face with Fredrica.

“Fredrica.” Zhenya started. As Rudi and the others let out a sigh of relief while simultaneously lecturing Ellie. “Zhenya,” Fredrica replied, her knights assessing their arrivals as non-threats, some recognizing them from their time together constructing the group’s house.